How corporate tax rates have changed post Budget

Moneycontrol BureauOne of the key highlights of this year's Union Budget was Finance Minister's move to reduce corporate tax to 25 percent for companies with a turnover of up to Rs 50 crore. However, corporate tax rate of 30 percent for other companies was unchanged. Overall, FM's announcements on tax were met with equal parts cheer and indifference. Moneycontrol gives a lowdown of the changes in corporate taxes that have been proposed:

Long-term Capital Asset

Investors can now book profits on immovable properties after holding them for only two years. Earlier, the holding period was for three years. Immovable property held for over three years was considered long-term capital asset which could be sold for caital gains. Capital Gains Tax

Transfer of listed equity shares was fully exempted from any long-term capital gains tax earlier. Now, such deals will be exempt if a securities transaction tax (STT) was paid at the time of acquisition of shares. The rate of long-term capital gains tax is 20 percent.However, an exception will soon be allowed in special cases where the STT was also not paid. Such transactions come under initial public offers, follow-on public offers, bonuses or rights issued by a listed company. This is to further incentivise retail investors to bet on the market. Corporate Tax for Domestic Firms

Companies with a turnover of Rs 50 crore and below will have to pay a lower tax rate of 25 percent (including surcharge and education cess). Earlier, this was 30 percent. In other cases, the tax rate remains unchanged at 30 percent. 

Corporate Tax for Partnership Firms

The effective tax rate for partnership firms remains unchanged at 30.9 percent on income less than Rs 1 crore. If the income exceeds Rs 1 crore, the effective tax burden will be 34.61 percent. Dividends payouts are taxed at the earlier unchanged rate of 15 percent.

MAT

Minimum alternate tax is paid on advance income. When the MAT paid is higher than the actual tax outgo, the excess if any is credited back into the payee's account. Such a credit can now be claimed anytime within fifteen years. Earlier, the time frame was 10 years.  

Overview of Corporate Tax Structure

   Source: PwC     Source: PwC